Minardi sign an Israeli

[Invincible]

Autosport reports that Chanoch Nissany is to be the first Israeli driver to be signed by an F1 team after Jordan confirmed as their test driver for 2005.

Nissany first tested for Jordan a few months ago and was 20 seconds off the pace of Kimi Raikkonen, and drove the last three rounds of the F3000 series where his best race was twelfth.

I have no record of whether his car was plagued or not, but I can only see this signing on monetary reasons.

[BSchneiderFan]

The Autosport story is misleading. Nissany has signed for Minardi, but is shown in Jordan overalls on autosport.com. Crash.net gives a fuller story.

[Invincible]

D'oh, sorry about...here is the story.

The role of the test driver with a Formula One team often goes the way of an up and coming young charger hoping to break his way into motorsport's premier league. The Minardi F1 team has taken a rather different approach this season with the signing of the forty-one year old Chanoch Nissany as an official test driver for the team...

Well....I can't help but notice Nissany is 41.

I suppose he provides Stoddart money...Opinions?

[BSchneiderFan]

Money aside, it seems to me that Nissany combines the worst of both worlds; he's old yet inexperienced, having only taken up racing in, what, 2002? I'm baffled as to what valuable feedback he'll be able to give on such a complex beast as an F1 car (even a Minardi!), except perhaps:

Engineer: Was the understeer any better that lap?

Nissany: Errr... have some money!

[BootsOntheSide]

AN official test driver, not neccessarily THE official test driver. He is basically there because he's a self-made multi-millionaire with an enthuiasm for motor racing, who wants to drive a Formula 1 car, more as a hobby than anything. He's presumably nowhere near qualifying for a superlicense, so he can't even be their Friday tester. I don't think being over 40 is automatically enough to prevent him having a racing career - usualyl it's the enthusiasm and motivation that goes in the mid-20s, not the actual ability, and perhaps Nissany's will last longer, as this is all new to him.

[Russ-Turner]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

Money aside, it seems to me that Nissany combines the worst of both worlds; he's old yet inexperienced, having only taken up racing in, what, 2002? I'm baffled as to what valuable feedback he'll be able to give on such a complex beast as an F1 car (even a Minardi!), except perhaps:

Engineer: Was the understeer any better that lap?

Nissany: Errr... have some money!

I can see it now,pulling cash out of his overalls ,stuffing them in the engineers top pocket before giving him a tap and a wink.

[Kicking-back]

No problem with this.

Why shouldn't he live his dream of driving the car?

He won't be racing and he won't be doing Friday tests, so it's not putting anyone else at risk.

[DougK]

I applaude Minardi on this. If its a way of raising cash - why not.
Maybe if the other teams doen the same then there is an alternative to "brands" sponsorship.
If people can pay to drive/test a F1 car on weekedays is there anything wrong with this? You can pay to drive a current supercar on a track so why not a current F1 car?
Its just a bit of publicity for Minardi so who can blame them.

Again age has nothing to do with it though inexperience has a little - many an older could keep up - look at club racing - age makes little difference, its fitness and alertness, skill and to a large degree experience that counts.

[EGG]

usualyl it's the enthusiasm and motivation that goes in the mid-20s, not the actual ability

But usually the ability is gained in the 20's, or teens for that matter.

Maybe Minardi should just go for broke for 3 seasons, hiring 2 drivers with zero skill and maximum cash, and one good driver who can do his "testing" during the actual races? People might give them funny looks when all of a sudden they have the budget of Williams and keep pulling the suspension apart when everyone else is doing splash-and-goes, but hey, if it gets them off the bottom...

[GP Racer]

Minardi becomes more embarrasing to this sport every season...

[BootsOntheSide]

Sorry, I meant mid-30s.

Why is it embarassing for a team to give a successful businessman a chance to drive their car for money? It's not as if he's taking anyone's job.

[GP Racer]

Originally Posted by BootsOntheSide

Sorry, I meant mid-30s.

Why is it embarassing for a team to give a successful businessman a chance to drive their car for money? It's not as if he's taking anyone's job.

Because they simply don't care about getting better. If they did, they wouldn't make such a move. Minardi seems to revel in their last place position.

I could never root for any team in any sport with their attitude...

[Super Tourer]

It's a pure commercial deal, it helps to fund Minardi and gets Nisanny an occcasional (at the rate Minardi test outside a race weekend - very occasional) run out. It's a fact of life that at the back of the grid you have to take funding where you can.

The actual race driver line up looks like it will be an improvement on last year.

Albers is talented and some of the other names mentioned for the 2nd seat are looking better than Bruni/Zsolt.

Of course it all depends on the car and therefore it's all relative.

[bradrive]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

Money aside, it seems to me that Nissany combines the worst of both worlds; he's old yet inexperienced, having only taken up racing in, what, 2002? I'm baffled as to what valuable feedback he'll be able to give on such a complex beast as an F1 car (even a Minardi!), except perhaps:

Engineer: Was the understeer any better that lap?

Nissany: Errr... have some money!

I did some race engineering with him last year and be sure about the following:
1) His aim is to be the 3th driver in the Hungary GP only.
2) He is currently roughly 2.7secs off the pace of a good driver in the same
car
3) He will improve this deficit to possibly 1,5secs
4) He is capable of watching the mirrors and avoid critical situations with
quicker cars and has demonstrated it
5) He understands about setup as much as the 20+ years old "pro's"
6) His overall physical and menthal fitness are ok for F1 testing, him being
more fit than many 20+ years old "pro's"
5) He is living out his dream in a very realistic and constructive way
6) His funding IS VERY IMPORTANT for the survival of Minardi

This is not for defending him on all accounts but please try to be FAIR!

[Alex Hodgkinson]

Do you really think that Minardi don't care about getting better GP? I'm not so sure, I think the cash injection that this deal will bring could possibly start the begining of improvents.

[GP Racer]

Originally Posted by Alex Hodgkinson

Do you really think that Minardi don't care about getting better GP? I'm not so sure, I think the cash injection that this deal will bring could possibly start the begining of improvents.

Yes I actually feel that way Alex.

It comes from statements that Stoddart makes from time to time. Like, if you can't be first, you may as well be last, and he seems to be ok with being called lovable losers. He also doesn't seem to have a long term plan for his team either, you know, a "where I expect to be in 5 years" plan. Whats his goals in F1? I don't really know. Does he expect to hire pay drivers the rest of his life in F1 and become a winner?

Stoddart just doesn't convey a winning attitude to me, and probably his team either (watching one of their pitstops confirms that), and at this level, winning is what its all about, or at least striving for that...

[StickShift]

Minardi Test Driver == 2 Seater Chauffeur.

I'd be surprised if Minardi often bring Nissany to the Grand Prix weekends to be their Friday tester.

[Tweed]

They've said they're not going to.

GP Racer, that's interesting, I've never stopped and thought about Paul Stoddart like that, maybe you're right.

[DSM]

I think this is disgraceful - Stoddart should be ashamed of himself and everyone who thinks its OK - well, guys, you're missing the point.

All this does is demonstrate the dire straits that Minardi and F1 are getting into and the depths that Minardi will sink to.

[Alex Hodgkinson]

Yeah I've never thought about it either, but thinking about it now I can see it's quite true to be honest. The team's attitude is quite lame come to think of it.
It is a phenomina which has been around only since Stoddard's been the boss. It's quite a different team to the team which was totally distraught after failing to score double points in the 1999 luxemburg GP, and the team which lead hakki with that bright yellow car at Indianapolis in 2000/2001(?)

Hmm I can see it now!

[Snrub]

I don't quiet understand why this guy wants to be Minardi's test driver. Why not buy a F2002 and have some fun with that? It's probably faster than a Minardi too.

Maybe Minardi have a lousy attitude, but you cannot honestly expect them set their expectations for wins, etc. there is ZERO chance of it? Everyone likes to blast Stoddard, particularly when he makes statements regarding the other teams or the sorry state of F1. Realistically if he can make rule changes that allow Minardi to be on a more level playing field (eg. where being $350M short doesn't mean 5secs off the pace), then he's done more than his engineers/designers/etc could ever hope to accomplish. The team hasn't even been able to compete with another team since 2002. That's pretty dishartening. If it was you, how would you react? As for longer term plans, the team is in a constant battle to show up on the grid for each race, any long term plans are meaningless.

[ensign14]

I am guessing that he will not do much more than straight line testing or something. This is a nice publicity stunt for Minardi, but I wonder if it will put off Arab sponsors. Maybe that's why Nissany also has the Hungarian flag on his cockpit in F3000? Hungarian passport would let him into Bahrain et al?

More worrying is the fact that a 41 year old with limited experience can get within 3-4 seconds of 'proper' drivers...F1 a driver challenge? Shyeah, right...

[GP Racer]

Originally Posted by Snrub

Maybe Minardi have a lousy attitude, but you cannot honestly expect them set their expectations for wins, etc. there is ZERO chance of it? Everyone likes to blast Stoddard, particularly when he makes statements regarding the other teams or the sorry state of F1. Realistically if he can make rule changes that allow Minardi to be on a more level playing field (eg. where being $350M short doesn't mean 5secs off the pace), then he's done more than his engineers/designers/etc could ever hope to accomplish. The team hasn't even been able to compete with another team since 2002. That's pretty dishartening. If it was you, how would you react? As for longer term plans, the team is in a constant battle to show up on the grid for each race, any long term plans are meaningless.

Here is an example of what I mean, in this months F1 mag.

The writer asks Stoddart what the long-term future for Minardi is. He goes into a long diartribe on all the ills of F1. The writer then adds,"what you say is valid and logical, but surely its significant that you've answered a question about Minardis future with a 3 minute critique of F1's current political status quo, rather than a detailed explanation of Minardi's future planning strategies"

These are the things that do nothing for a teams morale. I'm sure they feel the same way, "nothing we can do until the rules are changed". Paul cannot simply hang around and whinge and wine until F1 changes the rules to penalise the rich, to give to the poor.

[Skam85]

In the same article he talks about how gutted he was and how close Minardi were to winning Brazil 2003. And how he wants to be back up there.

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

Originally Posted by ensign14

More worrying is the fact that a 41 year old with limited experience can get within 3-4 seconds of 'proper' drivers...F1 a driver challenge? Shyeah, right...

I feel you're over looking the fact that 3-4 seconds in F1 is a lifetime. There's the off chance this guy actually has talent and people have that regardless of age.

It's a bit disheartening people have been so quick to slam Minardi for this, the guy has put up money that is obviously valuable to team so they can get on the grid. He won't even be driving in the Friday sessions so it isn't like he will be in anyone's way.

I'd wager anyone on this board would do the same if they had the chance and money.